The leaves of the nettle are covered with tiny, fine hairs. When you touch a leaf, the point of the hair pricks your skin. A poison is squeezed up the hair from a tiny sac at its base, and gets into the would. This is what causes the stinging pain-and makes you avoid stinging nettles in future!

Your brain contains memory centres where millions of old memories are stored away in an orderly manner according to subjects: music you have heard, places you have seen, and tastes and smells you have experienced. Because of this orderly arrangement, it is possible for one section of a person’s brain to be damaged or destroyed without harming the other sections. …

If you know the functions of tools such as scissors, forks, nutcrackers, and grinders, you will understand how marvellously specialized your teeth are. Although your 20 primary or baby teeth first appeared when you were about six months old, you permanent teeth (32) started to grow out when you were about six or seven years old. The rest will appear …

A pearl is created when a piece of grit lodges in the shell. The shellfish covers the grit with a layer of shell lining known as mother-of-pearl, or nacre. The pearl that is formed removes the irritating grit.

‘Size zero’ was first used in 1966 for British supermodel Twiggy, who had a fragile figure. Now, ‘size zero’ is a women’s clothing size in the US system, equivalent to a UK size 4, with a waist measurement of 23 inches, the average girth of an 8-year-old girl. It is a petite size for women with a 32-inch bust, 23-inch …

When you were born, sometimes a mole or nevus appeared on your skin. This is called a “birthmark” because it was present at birth. Moles are soft, dark, raised spots that can appear on almost any part of the body. They can differ from each other in what they are made of. Some moles consist of tissues from vessels; others …

What is it? Obesity expert, laparoscopic and bariatric surgeon Dr Muffazal Lakdawala says EA is a term coined by Linda Stone, a former IT executive. “It happens when a person becomes so engrossed in his/her computer that he/she forgets to breathe. It is a variant of sleep apnoea, which is commonly seen in obese individuals. Sleep apnoea is characterised by …

The human body contains about 48 liters of water. But this body fluid is not pure water. It is actually a salt solution. Why is this so. According to one scientific theory, all land animals, including man, are descendants of organisms that once lived in the sea water, and when they left life in their body fluid. Thus, the body …

There’s a media gag on the Indian cricket players at the World Cup. They speak to members of the media only when they absolutely must. If they fail to do that, they face sanctions by the International Cricket Council (ICC). But for the first time in the World Cup, an Indian player — Virat Kohli, no less — spoke to …

Since the advent of films in the early 1900s, theatres have been trying to optimize their viewing quality. During the 1920s, movie producers began to incorporate silver because of its reflective qualities, which delivered a better image. Eventually, the use of silver lenticular screens would fall out of fashion as alternatives became available. But because of the early prevalence of …